<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Robin: Kidnapped by MissScorp</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636776">Robin: Kidnapped</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/pseuds/MissScorp'>MissScorp</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman &amp; Robin: Batman Reborn, Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Consequences, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian learns a lesson, Dick Grayson is Batman, Gen, Growth and exploration, Kidnapping</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:54:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,644</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636776</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissScorp/pseuds/MissScorp</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin is kidnapped during his first solo patrol. The question is by who, and why? </p>
<p>For Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt, ambush.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bad Things Happen Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello, all, and welcome!</p>
<p>This is for my tenth Bad Things Happen Bingo square for the prompt, ambush.</p>
<p>Please, if you like this piece, favorite/kudo/bookmark it! Thanks for reading! Take care!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Thomas and Martha Wayne Memorial Park.</p>
<p>A city monument to two of Gotham's most beloved citizens.</p>
<p>Featuring a playground complete with swing sets and slides, fountains and flowering pathways, picnic tables and grassy knolls.</p>
<p>There was even an area dedicated to youth baseball, football, and soccer.</p>
<p>This was a place designed for families to spend their weekends and holidays.</p>
<p>Well, <em>normal</em> families, anyway.</p>
<p>The garden fountains were quiet at that hour, the basins full of water that sparkled in the bits of light pushing through the thick clouds covering the sky. The dense trees looked like skeletal figures dancing in the shadows.</p>
<p>Following Father's <em>death</em> at the hands of the New God, Darkseid, he had undertaken the task of making the park a place where families could come once more.</p>
<p>It seemed a fitting tribute to the grandparents he had never known, as well as to the father he only barely started forming a relationship with before his untimely demise.</p>
<p>With the millions he stood to inherit as Bruce Wayne's only legal heir, he could certainly afford to make the park a fine memorial to his family.</p>
<p>Even with all the improvements he made, the park still attracted the dregs and bottom-feeders of Gotham's seedy underbelly.</p>
<p>That's why he chose to come here.</p>
<p>It seemed like the most fitting place for him to finally stretch his wings really.</p>
<p>Granted, he <em>could</em> have chosen to take his solo patrol in Crime Alley or Gotham's East End.</p>
<p>He could have perched near the GCPD building and waited for something to happen that acquired his assistance.</p>
<p>He could have lurked around Amusement Mile or the Industrial District even.</p>
<p>No, Robin needed to protect the park that bore his family's name.</p>
<p>He was beyond ready for this.</p>
<p>Robin set out just after dark, the time when the punks, muggers, murderers, and rapists were out and about, looking for fresh victims, for fresh sport, for fresh blood.</p>
<p>As the predators hunted for their prey, <em>he</em> hunted <em>them</em>.</p>
<p>He took a slow inventory of the environment.</p>
<p>Two middle-aged men lounged by the trees at the edge of the baseball field, chain-smoking cigarettes, and guzzling from bottles concealed in brown paper bags.</p>
<p>Both wore black camouflage pants and leather jackets.</p>
<p>Each had identically shaved heads and goatees.</p>
<p><em>Definitely waiting for the right victim to come by</em>, he decided, mouth thinning into a hard line.</p>
<p>They'd be easy enough to apprehend.</p>
<p>His senses attuned to every ambient sound, scent, and movement.</p>
<p>Adrenaline pumped through his bloodstream.</p>
<p>His pulse raced.</p>
<p>He hungered for the thrill of the hunt, to feel that spurt of excitement warming his bloodstream, and the satisfaction of having caught his prey.</p>
<p>The two men started down the path towards where he hid. Robin waited until they stepped past where he crouched before he struck, without warning, without sound, without pity or mercy.</p>
<p>He swept the feet out from under the first of the two thugs with a swing of his bo-staff before turning towards the second. The second thug's face registered shock and fear first, then slid into a gruesome mask of rage and hunger.</p>
<p>"Well, if it ain't da little Robin."</p>
<p>"<em>Tt</em>," was his only reply.</p>
<p>What point was there in trading quips and insults with someone who lacked intelligence?</p>
<p>The first thug tried to grab him around the legs, but a twist to the right and he cracked the thug in the back of the head with his bo. The man sprawled facedown on the ground, what little sense he had knocked out of him.</p>
<p>The second dipped into his jacket, reaching for what Robin guessed was a gun, but a spinning jump kick sent the man flying backwards, the wind knocked out of him.</p>
<p>Robin returned his bo to its place on his utility belt before he sauntered forward to tie the thugs together with zip-ties he produced from a pouch at his waist.</p>
<p>Robin had only taken two steps when he felt something pierce the flesh on the side of his neck.</p>
<p><em>What the</em>...? His brow furrowed. <em>Did someone just stab me with a needle</em>?</p>
<p>He reached up to touch his throat and found his fingers came away wet with blood.</p>
<p><em>Too late</em>, he realized. Too late did he figure out that these two thugs were merely decoys meant to distract him, to keep him from being aware that another predator waited to ambush him.</p>
<p>Stupid, foolish!</p>
<p>Mistakes like these caused failure. As much as it annoyed him, he was going to have to call for back-up.</p>
<p>Robin found his lips wouldn't obey his request to speak the words his mind formed. His heart plummeted into his stomach as he realized he'd been dosed with a fast-acting tranquilizer.</p>
<p>Already his limbs were becoming heavy and lethargic. His reflexes weren't what they should be and his vision was already sliding towards gray.</p>
<p>Robin fought it, knowing he couldn't give in.</p>
<p>A figure strolled towards him as he pushed the button on his comm. <em>No</em>... Fury filled him as he stared into a pair of empty, dark eyes. <em>Not him</em>.</p>
<p>"What's the matter, little Robin?" The man stopped a few inches from him. "Feeling sleepy?"</p>
<p>Robin made to attack him but another jab stopped him. <em>Another dose of the tranquilizer</em>, he realized, body slumping to the moist earth.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One of Gotham’s silent protectors stood with one of the city’s respected citizens. Together, they looked out over the city they loved. On clear nights like this, the view from the cliffs on which they stood allowed them a glimpse of the bridges, the steel and chrome high rises, and nearly all of the surrounding islands and boroughs.</p>
<p>All was quiet in the city.</p>
<p>At the moment.</p>
<p>Both were perfectly aware of how looks could be deceiving.</p>
<p>Especially in a city constantly ravaged by urban warfare and the criminally insane.</p>
<p>"Are you certain the Scarecrow is behind this new hallucinogenic drug we've been seeing on the streets?"</p>
<p>The smaller of the two figures shifted to look at the taller one. <em>He‘s grown so much in the last ten months</em>, Raya Kean mused as she studied Red Robin’s cowled visage.</p>
<p>The grief and uncertainty that shadowed his boyish face, electrified those eyes a year ago had been replaced by a quiet maturity and confidence.</p>
<p>Tim Drake not only understood who he was as a man, he also understood who he was as Red Robin, as well.</p>
<p>“I ran a sample against the Scarecrow’s other toxins.” Her mouth formed a moue. “The analysis showed a strong chemical significance to support our feeling he‘s behind  new drug."</p>
<p>“How is he manufacturing it.” His mouth thinned into a hard line. "That's what I want to know."</p>
<p>“I'd like to know that myself.” Raya breathed out a soft sigh. "He has not been out of his cell, for any reason, the last six weeks."</p>
<p>“Are you sure it was him in his cell and not a holographic image?" Double R squinted as he watched a helicopter circle in the distance. "He has manipulated us into thinking he was safely locked away before and wasn’t."</p>
<p>"I had Barbara check the security footage to see if she could find anything but she came back with nothing.” </p>
<p>“So, we don’t know for sure.”</p>
<p>“Well, we know he was on the grounds tonight because Batman prevented him from escaping."</p>
<p>“The Scarecrow <em>actually</em> attempted a breakout while he was at the Asylum?"</p>
<p>“Imagine that.” Her lips curved into a warm, affectionate smile. "A super criminal who decided to make a break for it while the big black Bat was just around the corner."</p>
<p>He snorted a laugh.</p>
<p>“So, Batman subdued him while you dealt with the pandemonium his breakout caused among staff and the other patients."</p>
<p>“I saw it as a fair trade considering how annoyed dark and moody was with me."</p>
<p>“You did undermine his authority."</p>
<p>Raya harrumphed and folded her arms across her chest.</p>
<p>“I merely acknowledged Robin’s argument for why he should be allowed to go on solo patrols."</p>
<p>"Which convinced the little hell-spawn to continue arguing the point rather than accept what Batman told him." He slanted a look at her. “Which was no.”</p>
<p>“As much as I might not want to agree with him from an adult standpoint, I have to agree with him as Fenix."</p>
<p>“Uh... why?"</p>
<p>“Because he has to find his footing as Robin.” Her fingers skimmed the back of his arm. “Same as you did after following Jason and same as Jason had to following after Dick.”</p>
<p>“He’s not ready for being on his own. He has no qualms about killing those who get in his way.”</p>
<p>“He never will get beyond those issues if we don’t give him a bit of freedom and guidance."</p>
<p>“Look at what happened to Jason when he had that bit of freedom given to him.” Bitterness stung the air between them. “He’s got even less qualms about killing now than he had as Robin. Look what he did last night to Black Mask’s men."</p>
<p>She could not refute either of those points. Jason Todd's brutal death at the hands of the Joker affected all their lives.</p>
<p>Bruce Wayne’s especially.</p>
<p>A man who went to his grave blaming himself for what happened to his son.</p>
<p>That’s why he left her a request in his will: to find a way and help Jason.</p>
<p>A daunting task but one she accepted because the request came from Bruce.</p>
<p>As he taught her to rise from the ashes, so would she find a way to teach Jason.</p>
<p>However, if there was one thing she had come to understand about the newest Robin, it was that he was nothing at all like his predecessors. Something she shared with the man beside her.</p>
<p>“Robin is an intellectual warhorse with the instincts of a ninja seven times his age.”</p>
<p>“He's still only eleven.”</p>
<p>Raya was about to reply but the roar of a car engine stopped her. She and Double R turned just as a familiar black automobile crested the hill and came skidding to a stop in front of them.</p>
<p>Dick Grayson, in the dark body armor, black cape, and cowl of Batman swept from the vehicle. One look at his face set off warning bells inside Raya.</p>
<p>Something was wrong.</p>
<p>And she had a feeling she knew who was involved.</p>
<p>“Where's Robin?" His fierce expression swung to hers. Raya firmed her shoulders, refusing to let him intimidate her and stepped towards him. “Dick?”</p>
<p> “He’s been kidnapped."</p>
<p>"When?” Double R demanded, his problems with Damian Wayne forgotten for that moment. “By who?”</p>
<p>A muscle ticked in Dick’s jaw and his hands bunched at his sides.</p>
<p>Only two people could get this much of a rise out of Dick Grayson.</p>
<p>The Clown Prince of Crime and...</p>
<p>“Berkeley.”</p>
<p>The dark chill in his voice was so much like the raspy growl Bruce used it sent tingles of alarm dancing along Raya’s spine.</p>
<p>“We'll get Robin back.” She slid her hand into his gloved one, squeezed his fingers. “I promise.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She never saw it coming. One second he was staring at Double R, his face a mask of hard angles and planes.</p>
<p>The next his fingers tightened on hers and he yanked her against him, hard enough to knock the wind out of her.</p>
<p>"Double R and I will go to rescue Robin," he told her in short, clipped tones. "You're to return to the Batcave."</p>
<p>"No, Dick, I'm not."</p>
<p>"Yes, you are."</p>
<p>When she went to slap her free hand against his chest, he caught it, and pinned it at her side.</p>
<p>"Lemme go, damn you!"</p>
<p>"Not until you agree to return to the cave."</p>
<p>Raya yanked her arms free and slammed her palms against his chest.</p>
<p>"No!"</p>
<p>"Maybe we should—" Double R began.</p>
<p>"No, Tim." Dick's voice was hard as tempered steel. "I cannot allow Raya to confront her father. Not with Robin's life on the line."</p>
<p>"Allow me to confront my father." She repeated the words as if he said them in a foreign language. "Yeah, see, I don't recall having to answer to <em>you</em>, Grayson."</p>
<p>Dick shifted, leaning closer to her, simultaneously protective and threatening.</p>
<p>"When you're in Gotham, you'll damn sure answ..."</p>
<p>"Finish that sentence," Raya hissed at him. "I dare you."</p>
<p>"This is not open to discussion," he snarled back through clenched teeth. "You can either stay here or you can return to the cave and wait there for us. Either way you are <em>not</em> going to confront your father!"</p>
<p>"Oh, I'm confronting my father." Raya met his scowl without flinching. "And nothing <em>you</em> say is going to change my mind about it!"</p>
<p>He looked down at her, stepped closer, only a few inches taller than her, but still subtly intimidating.</p>
<p>"Well, I'm suggesting you change your mind. And if I was you," he added before she could issue the blistering retort on the tip of her tongue, "I'd change my mind really quickly."</p>
<p>He took another step; eyes locked on his, Raya raised her hands and shoved against his chest.</p>
<p>"Stop it!" She shoved at him again. "You're trying to intimidate me into what you want me to do!"</p>
<p>"No, I'm trying to convince you to do what is right," he corrected. "There's a difference."</p>
<p>"Well, it's not going to work. You're <em>not</em> Bruce! You don't intimidate me like he does!"</p>
<p>"If he was here, he'd do a lot more than intimidate you in order to get his way, and you know it."</p>
<p>Raya glowered at him. "And I might be inclined to obey him." Now she glared. "But I wouldn't count on it. When it comes to standing face-to-face with my father and finally seeing him brought to justice, there's nothing, besides death, that is going to stop me."</p>
<p>A muscle ticked in his jaw, was her only clue as to how tight a rein Dick was keeping over himself at that moment.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't push me much farther, Raya."</p>
<p>Part of her was annoyed with him for not realizing why it was so important she confront her father. It wasn't just about getting back Robin. It was also about obtaining justice for the woman he brutally murdered sixteen years ago.</p>
<p>"Dick," she said as calmly as she could. "Please, try and understand that this is something I need to do."</p>
<p>"I know you don't think I get it, but I do. I get why you want to see your father brought to justice. Why you need to see him brought to justice. I support you in wanting that. And I will do everything I can to help you get it." He yanked her to him, hard enough that their bodies collided. "But I'm not letting you risk your life for it!"</p>
<p>"It's my life to risk," she growled. "Not yours."</p>
<p>He gave her one quick, desperate shake.</p>
<p>"It's not just your life you're risking here! You're also risking Robin's!"</p>
<p>"I'd die to save Robin and you know it."</p>
<p>"And that's why I'm ordering you back to the cave," Dick gritted. "You don't value your life as much as I do."</p>
<p>She shoved him with her free hand.</p>
<p>"We're more than just partners and friends, Dick. We're family." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "That's why I'm asking you... <em>please</em>, do not ask me to stand down."</p>
<p>"If you were being rational right now, you would see your emotions are clouded."</p>
<p>"Is it that you think I'm incapable of facing my father?" Her head cocked to the side. "Or is it you think I'm going to fall to pieces the second I'm face-to-face with him?"</p>
<p>"It's neither of those things and you know it," he replied in a hard voice. "Now, if you're finished with your snit..."</p>
<p>"Snit? You think this is a <em>snit</em>?" The words came out in a low, emotionally charged tone. "He murdered my mother sixteen years ago tonight!" Temper shuddered back to twist painfully with grief. "He kidnapped Robin on the anniversary of her death, Dick."</p>
<p>"Rae." His hands gentled, and his anger became sorrow. "Why didn't you remind me that this was the night your mom was murdered?"</p>
<p>"Because I didn't want you walking around with that in your head."</p>
<p>"You've carried the image of my parent's death around inside of you all these years. I'd have carried yours."</p>
<p>"I know you would have." Raya blew out a breath. "That's why I've never told you about what happened the night he killed her."</p>
<p>"Maybe it's time you do," Tim said quietly. "Get it out in the open."</p>
<p>"Maybe." She turned away from Dick. "After we save Robin."</p>
<p>"We don't even know where Berkeley might have taken the little demon," Double R pointed out.</p>
<p>"Berkeley Hall," came her somber reply.</p>
<p>"It's the only place he'd take him." She lifted her eyes to Dick's. "That's why you need me along with you. I know the secrets of the house and grounds. I can get you inside without tripping his security system."</p>
<p>"Okay, Rae," Dick finally relented. "You win."</p>
<p>Not that it was much of a victory.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Berkeley Hall was built along the same Gothic architectural style as Wayne Manor. It was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence topped with razor-sharp spear points, beyond which stretched miles of neatly tended green lawn and majestic oak trees.</p>
<p>"I can see why Nix prefers the Manor to this place." Double R peered around the corner of the house to make sure no guards patrolled that sector of the property. "Even with the mountain of dark memories that hang over it, the Manor does not feel as cold as this place."</p>
<p>"I didn't understand why she preferred the Manor until I attended a fundraiser here with Bruce." Removing a lock pick from his utility belt, Batman knelt and made short work of the lock on the doors. "Even with all the lights on, music playing, and people laughing, the house still felt like a dark entity possessing a cornucopia of secrets. And that it was..." he trailed off, sighed. "I dunno... waiting for something."</p>
<p>"Waiting?" Double R asked curiously. "Waiting for what?"</p>
<p>"I was never sure if the house was waiting for another death to occur or waiting for its dirty secrets to finally be aired."</p>
<p>"You met Matthew Berkeley that night, didn't you?"</p>
<p>"No, I didn't."</p>
<p>"What?" Surprise tinged Double R's tone. "But I thought…"</p>
<p>"Matthew Berkeley felt that my pedigree was well below his social standard." His smile was as bitter as his tone. "So, he did not deem me as someone worth meeting."</p>
<p>"Bruce took you in..." Double R began but he cut him off with a shake of his head.</p>
<p>"Being the ward of someone whose blood was as blue as his did not make me one of <em>them</em>. To most of Gotham's high society I was nothing but a dirty circus rat he showed kindness too."</p>
<p>It was a part of his history he did not like thinking about unless he had too. On the outside, being the ward of a man with the vast wealth and social status as Bruce Wayne should have seemed like a dream come true for a boy who came from nothing.</p>
<p>It had been more of a nightmare really.</p>
<p>Singled out constantly by school faculty for his promise as a student, tormented and ridiculed by students who considered themselves superior to him by status of birth, and virtually ignored by his benefactor had left him feeling caged, empty, and even more alone than he had been in the Catholic orphanage.</p>
<p>The one bright spot among a lot of bad had been his friendship with Raya.</p>
<p>"Why didn't Gordon arrest Berkeley for his wife's murder? Surely he was looking at him as the prime suspect?"</p>
<p>"Gordon couldn't arrest Berkeley for the murder of Ellen Rae Kean."</p>
<p>"Why not?"</p>
<p>"Because the forensic evidence was conveniently misplaced."</p>
<p>"Convenient as in removed from evidence and destroyed."</p>
<p>"That's what Bruce thinks, yes. He continued to pursue ways to prove it was Berkeley up until his death but couldn't ever provide concrete proof that disputes Berkeley's claim that an intruder entered the house and shot his wife." His heavy sigh punctured the cool air. "And considering the only person to witness the crime has refused to talk about it to anyone but Alfred..."</p>
<p>"Why hasn't she told Gordon?"</p>
<p>"Because Berkeley tried to kill Gordon a few days after he did her mother." He replaced the lock pick and stood. "That's how Bruce got custody of Raya. Gordon signed it over to him while he was in the hospital to make sure Berkeley couldn't get his hands on her."</p>
<p>"After Batman told him to trust him." Wry amusement twinkled in Double R's eyes. "Right?"</p>
<p>"Right." A smile touched Batman's lips. "</p>
<p>"Come on, let's catch up with her before she does something reckless."</p>
<p>"She wouldn't," Double R stopped, grimaced. "Yeah, she would."</p>
<p>They moved like a well-oiled machine, fanning out to cover both sides of the sitting room they entered, automatically knowing; trusting the other would have their back.</p>
<p>"A dozen guards are patrolling the hallway upstairs. An equal amount are in a large room right above us." Double R crouched in the shadows by the entrance. "And there are three figures in one of the bedrooms. The smaller one is likely Robin."</p>
<p>"The other two are probably Berkeley and one of his bodyguards."</p>
<p>"Probably."</p>
<p>"There's two guards in the hall in front of us."</p>
<p>"What about Nix? Any sign of her?"</p>
<p>"She's in the room across from us."</p>
<p>"We both know how bad she is with directions." Amused resignation thickened Double R's tone. "But getting lost in her own house is bad even for her."</p>
<p>"You think that's bad?" Batman flashed him a grin. "She sent us to a Chinese Brothel instead of Ace Chemicals once."</p>
<p>Double R stifled a chuckle.</p>
<p>"Oh, man, I can imagine you know who's face when he found himself in a brothel."</p>
<p>"He was not amused, I can assure you of that."</p>
<p>"He made her study every map of Gotham there was to make sure it never happened again, didn't he?"</p>
<p>"And quizzed her about it every night."</p>
<p>Double R chuckled as Batman got to his feet and slowly made his way from the room, scalloped cape fluttering behind him. The two henchmen stood in front of a dark room on the opposite side of the foyer. The black leather bomber jackets they wore, the cargo pants, and the automatic rifles made it clear they were not simple bodyguards.</p>
<p>"Well, lookie what we have here, Leonard." The lead thug smiled, cold and cruel as the two caped crusaders came towards him. His eyes were empty and blank, devoid of anything save for the evil inside him. "It's Batman and Red Robin."</p>
<p>"The girl ain't with 'em, Snyder," the second man whined. "Boss ain't gonna be happy that she ain't with 'em."</p>
<p>"Who says she ain't here?" Lips compressed into a hard, thin line, the guard lifted his rifle and pointed it directly at Batman. "I say we lure the little bitch from her hidey hole by shootin' these two full of lead."</p>
<p>A smoke bomb dropped between them. Dense smoke immediately filled the entrance hall and made visibility difficult for the armed men.</p>
<p>"What do we do, Leonard?" The second thug cried. "What do we do?"</p>
<p>"Start shooting, ya idiot!"</p>
<p>They didn't have time to lift their weapons.</p>
<p>Batman and Double R attacked in one synchronized motion.</p>
<p>A spin heel kick took out the first guard while a jaw-crushing right hook took out the second.</p>
<p>Double R secured their wrists with zip-ties before joining Batman in the formal living room.</p>
<p>"Where next?"</p>
<p>Batman walked over to where a door built into the wall had been left ajar.</p>
<p>"We follow Nix."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Robin sat rigidly. His arms were tied behind him by a length of heavy rope. Nothing he couldn't have gotten out of but the watchful eyes of the armed guard he'd love to break the nose of kept him from attempting to slip his hands free. The second he got free that gun would open fire, bullets belching from it at a rate that assured he'd be hit by more than a few before he could do any lasting damage.</p>
<p>The acidic taste of bitterness mingled with the coppery sweetness of the blood that seeped into his mouth after the man... <em>Berkeley</em>, he thought savagely, dealt him a vicious backhanded slap to bring him out of the fog the tranquilizer they used left him in.</p>
<p>He glowered at the man where he lounged on a chair across from him. He hadn't understood why Kean allowed this man to victimize her until after he heard the litany of things this man had done to her while she was a child.</p>
<p>Matthew Berkeley Jr. enjoyed hurting people.</p>
<p>And he especially liked when the one he hurt was his daughter.</p>
<p>It was a bitter dose of reality for the eleven-year-old to swallow. While he had grown up in the shadow of his grandfather, Ra's al Ghul, and been indoctrinated from birth with the teachings of the League of Assassins, he had never been abused in any form or fashion. Seeing the parental card Kean had been dealt made him extremely grateful to have the father he had.</p>
<p>Bruce Wayne could be called many things but <em>abusive</em> was not among his innumerable character flaws.</p>
<p>The man circling him jabbed him in the back with the barrel of his rifle. Robin shot him a furious glare over his shoulder, silently promising retribution once he got himself free of these ropes. The buffoon merely smirked, safe with the knowledge that so long as his hands and arms were tied behind him, and an assault rifle trained on him, there was no way for him to fulfill his vow.</p>
<p>He was forced to content himself with the knowledge that rescue would arrive at any moment. Berkeley assured him after he woke up that a message was sent to Kean telling her where he was. Kean would contact Grayson. Once he arrived, they'd unleash their own brand of justice on this motley crew of degenerates. The idea of Berkeley bloodied and bruised brought a smile to his face.</p>
<p>"Something amusing you, little Robin?"</p>
<p>A glint in Berkeley's eye had the hair on the back of his neck bristling. Berkeley may look like his father, be as wealthy and socially connected as him, but that was where the similarities ended.</p>
<p>Where Bruce Wayne possessed the youthful look of a spoiled and pampered playboy, Berkeley looked a decade older.</p>
<p>His dark hair was streaked liberally with silver strands. His face was puffy from a combination of alcohol and the madness that permeated his soul. His body still retained some firmness, but he had started to go paunchy around the middle.</p>
<p>It was a testament to their different lifestyles, to the different choices they made, and to the types of men they were.</p>
<p>Bruce Wayne kept himself in top physical condition because it allowed him to fight men like the Joker, Scarecrow, and Bane.</p>
<p>Berkeley lived a life of indulgence, treating himself to spa treatments and manicures in order to maintain the illusion of sophistication and wealth.</p>
<p>"Well?"</p>
<p>Robin stared into Berkeley's empty eyes and vowed in a cool, calm voice, "I was just imagining breaking your nose the moment I get free."</p>
<p>Berkeley pushed to his feet and walked towards him, his gait smooth, graceful.</p>
<p>Like a jingle cat moving through the dense underbrush.</p>
<p>"Do you honestly think you're going to get free, little Robin?" The ends of his lips curved into a smile full of malice. "I guarantee you won't. And if you do," he added in a slippery tone, "you won't be leaving this room alive."</p>
<p>"Batman will—"</p>
<p>"What? Come for you?" Berkeley chuckled, the sound grating on Robin's already frayed nerves. "Oh, I'm hoping so." All humor fled then. "I cannot kill him otherwise."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>They burst out of the wall in front of the group of armed thugs. Batarangs and disc-shaped projectiles winged through the air, disarming the stunned men and dropping them to the ground. More came out of the rooms to the right and left of them.</p>
<p>Batman and Red Robin fought like demons, whirling in synchronized motion, always in constant step with the other.</p>
<p>Arms snapped, ankles twisted, and bodies got sent flying into the walls or each other.</p>
<p>Silence descended soon as the last thug was rendered unconscious by a tap to his temple from Double R's bo.</p>
<p>He returned the weapon to its place on his utility belt after collapsing it. He turned to see Batman standing over a fallen henchman.</p>
<p>"What? No more?" He grinned. "And here I was just starting to have fun." One of the men stirred and groped for his rifle. "Looks like that one didn't get the hint about staying down."</p>
<p>Batman booted the thug in the head, rendering him unconscious.</p>
<p>"I'm sure he gets it now."</p>
<p>He then stalked towards Double R, his cape fluttering behind him. He found himself struggling with accepting it was <em>Dick</em>, and not <em>Bruce</em>, coming towards him. Those electric eyes blazed with the same rage, grief, and torment that once burned in their mentors.</p>
<p>"This house is having an effect on you," he said in a quiet voice. "Isn't it?"</p>
<p>"Yes."</p>
<p>Short, simple, honest. As such, Double R decided to reply in kind. Something he wouldn't have done a year ago.</p>
<p>"You lectured Raya about how her personal feelings were dangerous. I would say yours..."</p>
<p>"Run just as deep as hers." A grim smile touched his lips. "I admit this is personal for me. It has been since the night Berkeley shot me. And not just because he shot me," he added in a voice that throbbed with emotion, "but because he hurt <em>her</em>."</p>
<p>"Dick..."</p>
<p>"No," he said in a firm voice. "You need to hear this. It's the only way you'll understand why this is so personal." Double R conceded, his curiosity piqued. Batman released a heavy sigh before he started to speak. "Berkeley hired some men to kidnap us when we were sixteen." His jaw clenched. "They came into the school and grabbed us. There was nothing I could do to stop them."</p>
<p>"You were on school grounds. What could you do?"</p>
<p>"Nothing," he said with a sigh. "I know that now."</p>
<p>"I'm assuming you were brought here?"</p>
<p>"We were," Batman confirmed with a nod. "I attacked Berkeley once the drugs they forced into me wore off. However…" His voice trailed off. "He had a gun. It went off. I don't know what happened after that. I woke up in the hospital."</p>
<p>Already dreading the answer, Double R asked the one question on his mind.</p>
<p>"What about Raya? You said he hurt her."</p>
<p>The eyes that met his burned with a virulent flood of emotions.</p>
<p>"He cut her throat while I was unconscious."</p>
<p>"Cut her… "Horror washed over Double R. "Is that how she got that scar?"</p>
<p>"Yes." Batman stared down the hall. Seeing a cornucopia of things, Double R imagined. "She almost bled to death. If Superman hadn't gotten there when he did..."</p>
<p>"You can't blame yourself. You were shot..."</p>
<p>"Doesn't matter." No, truth and logic never mattered when it came to someone they loved being hurt. "My biggest fear is I won't be able to stop him from hurting her again. That's why I didn't want her coming with us."</p>
<p>It was extremely rare to see Dick Grayson show doubt in himself. Most often he buried his self-doubts beneath sharp and witty banter. <em>Or through high flying, daredevil antics</em>.</p>
<p>He was only human, though.</p>
<p>And the person involved was someone close to him.</p>
<p>"Batman…"</p>
<p>Voices from the other end of the hall stopped him from saying what he was about to say. They turned as two guards came around the corner, assault rifles cocked. Soon as they saw them, they opened fire.</p>
<p>Muzzle flares lit up the hallway.</p>
<p>Bullets ate away at the walls, chipping away at the paint, and pelting their face and chests with bits of plaster.</p>
<p>If it weren't for the auditory filters built into their cowls, the sound would have been deafening. The acrid smell of cordite was thick on the stale, musty air. Batman launched a grappling line at the same time Double R fired his, each hooking an armed gunmen and yanking them towards them before taking them down with jaw-breaking force.</p>
<p>More guards poured out of rooms.</p>
<p>Most were neutralized before they even had a chance to think about fighting.</p>
<p>Batman and Red Robin continued on their way, neutralizing guards as they went before turning into the bedroom at the end of the hall.</p>
<p>"Where are they?" Double R frowned when he saw the room was empty. "Didn't she say the bedroom at the end of the short hallway?"</p>
<p>"This isn't the bedroom at the end of the short hallway." A muscle ticked in Batman's jaw. "Her bedroom is at the end of the short hallway."</p>
<p>"Her bedroom..." Double R said slowly, thoughtfully. "Berkeley shot you in her bedroom, didn't he?"</p>
<p>Batman growled a one word answer: "Yes."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The thug guarding him jabbed him, hard, in the back with the butt of his rifle, knocking his breath out with a whoosh. The other guard who came to join them after gunfire was heard coming from the other wing, laughed raucously.</p>
<p>"Now, now boys," Berkeley chastised softly. "Is that any way to treat our young friend here?"</p>
<p>"Sorry, boss."</p>
<p>Robin noted it was said with contrition, but not because the baboon felt any sympathy for the pain he caused. He slowly lifted his head and fixed the man with a hot stare.</p>
<p>"As soon as I get free, I will break you in half."</p>
<p>The gunman scowled and lifted his rifle to hit him again but Berkeley stopped him with a shake of his head.</p>
<p>"We don't want to damage the goods."</p>
<p>"Aw," the guard whined plaintively. "I was just gonna give the brat a little tap on the back of his head."</p>
<p>"I will not tolerate anything ruining my plans for this evening."</p>
<p>"You call plotting to kill Batman a plan?" Robin snorted. "Every criminal in Gotham has tried that and failed."</p>
<p>Berkeley clicked his tongue. "I'd mind that tongue of yours. Or else..." He held up a knife. "I will use this to remove that tongue from your mouth."</p>
<p>"You should consider yourself lucky I'm-"</p>
<p>Berkeley slapped him, a vicious, back handed blow.</p>
<p>"I said watch your tongue."</p>
<p>"Takes more than a nob-"</p>
<p>A grunt escaped at the next slap. Robin refused to let Berkeley see anything but anger and disdain, though.</p>
<p>"Is that the best you've got?" he sneered. "Poison Ivy hits harder than you."</p>
<p>Berkeley held a knife an inch from his cheek. Robin braced himself and met those dark eyes without flinching.</p>
<p>"I find your ability to control your fear and mask your emotions admirable, little Robin. My daughter would have been weeping and begging for mercy by now. But then," his lips curled into a cruel smile, "she was always as weak as her whore bitch of a mother."</p>
<p>"If Kean's as weak as you claim then you shouldn't have had any problems in killing her." He sniffed his disdain. "Sounds to me like you're the weak one."</p>
<p>Berkeley cursed savagely and reared back his arm but shouts and gunfire from down the hall stopped him.</p>
<p>"Go see what's happening," he ordered the guards. "Now."</p>
<p>Before the guards could comply, two needle-thin bo-shurikens sang through the air, spearing the men in their arms and shoulders respectfully.</p>
<p>They dropped to the floor instantly.</p>
<p>Robin's eyes widened when he saw Kean exit a hidden door skillfully built into the white oak paneling by the bed. He should have realized this house, much like Wayne Manor, would have its own share of secrets. <em>And secret passages</em>.</p>
<p>"You're dead…" There was as much bafflement as rage in Berkeley's voice when he spotted her. "I killed you. You're dead."</p>
<p>Robin's blood curdled at the sheer emptiness of Berkeley's eyes.</p>
<p>"Setting the stage for a guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, are we?" She hummed a laugh that lacked any true amusement. "That's fine. You caged inside Arkham Asylum or Blackgate Penitentiary makes little difference to me."</p>
<p>Those dark, sightless eyes flickered and the hand on the blade he held still, flexed. Kean was definitely getting a rise out of him. Robin scooted himself into a position where he could use his legs to take Berkeley down if the need arose.</p>
<p>"<em>Raya</em>." The word came out a low, moist hiss. "I'm going to kill you along with that mentor of yours."</p>
<p>"Promises, promises."</p>
<p>"Oh, I mean it this time. But I'm going to make you suffer first. Know how?"</p>
<p>There was something almost reasonable in his voice, something sane to counter the wealth of madness. That, more than anything, worried Robin.</p>
<p>"Oh, please, enlighten me."</p>
<p>"I'm going to make you watch as I kill Batman, Robin, and that other masked whelp of his."</p>
<p>"You've tried to kill Batman and the Robin's before. And have failed each and every time that you've tried." Her head cocked to the side. "What makes you think you will succeed this time?"</p>
<p>"I've spared no expense this time. I've hired only the best guards and outfitted them with the best weapons that money could buy."</p>
<p>Robin snorted derisively. "Like the Joker and Penguin-"</p>
<p>"Quiet boy." Berkeley held up the blade still in his hand. "Or I will use this to shut you up."</p>
<p>"No," Kean refuted in a voice like tempered steel. "You won't."</p>
<p>"Oh? And who is going to stop me? You?" Berkeley laughed, long and low. "Please, you've failed every time you've tried to stop me. In fact, that's what led me to shooting the first Boy Blunder." A wolffish leer crossed his face. "Now, isn't it?"</p>
<p>The sweep of emotions that flickered on Kean's opalescent face told Robin the words struck a sensitive nerve.</p>
<p>Exactly as Berkeley intended them to do.</p>
<p><em>Come on, Kean</em>, Robin urged silently. <em>I'll lose what little respect I have if you let him beat you this easily.</em></p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Berkeley's words sent a ball of rage coursing through Dick. He felt this level of violence only once before and it led him to nearly breaking the one rule Bruce had about killing. <em>If he had not arrived when he had, if he had not administered CPR, the Joker would be dead</em>.</p>
<p>He let that memory linger, used it to help him contain the storm of emotions sweeping through him.</p>
<p>He was so tempted to give in, though.</p>
<p>He made to step forward but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.</p>
<p>"I know what you're thinking and I understand why you're thinking it," Double R said quietly. "That man, this house, and what he's done are eating away at you. it's not our way to kill, though." His fingers squeezed gently. "Just as you know she would not want you to kill him."</p>
<p>"Am I to do nothing then?"</p>
<p>"It's up to her to finally face her fears and rise from them. Same as you've had to do. Same as I've had to do. And the same as <em>he</em> had to do."</p>
<p><em>Rise</em>.</p>
<p>It was the second mantra of their family.</p>
<p>To take what they feared most and utilize it to make them strong.</p>
<p>To rise above the fear and become better for it.</p>
<p>Dick knew that, just as he knew it was exactly what Bruce would have told him were he there.</p>
<p>His lips crooked at the corners.</p>
<p>"You're beginning to sound more and more like him everyday, you know that?"</p>
<p>"I know." A bit of humor thickened Double R's tone. "It's beginning to worry me, too."</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>”That wasn't my fault." Kean spoke calmly but there was an edge to her tone. "You had your baboons kidnap us."</p>
<p>"Oh, but I disagree." Berkeley let out a low chuckle that grated on Robin's remaining nerve. He started working on freeing himself from the ropes. "That, much like tonight, is your fault. It's the price for your deceit."</p>
<p>"You pulled that trigger." Kean took a step forward. "And while that sixteen year old boy bled in my arms, you used the knife in your hands to cut my throat." She took another step. "To stop me from telling the world what you did to my mother."</p>
<p>"I told you that actions have consequences."</p>
<p>"Well, losing what you value most is the price you'll pay for everything you've done to my mother, Uncle Jim, Barbara, Dick. Gotham high society will finally see you for the monster you are and revile you for it."</p>
<p>"How it must burn," Berkeley sneered. "Being unable to prove I killed that whore-bitch or shot that mongrel you're friends with."</p>
<p>Kean inched close enough Robin could feel her fingers skim the back of his neck. A silent bid for patience. An offer of comfort and support. He found himself wanting to lean into her touch. He rejected the urge and shot her a heated glare from the corner of his eye. Not that Kean was paying him any attention.</p>
<p>No, her gaze remained locked on the madman standing a few inches from them.</p>
<p>"Oh," she said, her tone smug, "that's where you're wrong, Mr. Berkeley."</p>
<p>"There's no forensic evidence." Berkeley's jaw clenched. "No witnesses but you." He chuckled, long and low. "And who is going to believe <em>you</em>?"</p>
<p>"I do," Robin growled, having had enough of his postering. "And so does Batman."</p>
<p><em>And Drake</em>, he added silently.</p>
<p>"Still no proof."</p>
<p>"My Robin thinks on his feet." Batman's gaze met Kean's. "He'll have recorded everything you've said."</p>
<p>"Psychopaths just can't resist bragging about their exploits." Kean's fingers again brushed his neck in that oddly comforting way. "Can they, Robin?"</p>
<p>Robin made a <em>ffff</em> sound. "Of course not."</p>
<p>""It'll be thrown out under Gotham Penal Code, section 632 which protects confidential communication." Berkeley looked pale, sickly. His confidence of moments before slipping as he realized his blunder. "No evidence obtained as a result of eavesdropping is admissible in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding."</p>
<p>"Ah, but the exception to that rule applies when the evidence obtained can be considered objectively reasonable." Batman waved a hand towards Robin. "You volunteered the information while engaged in threatening and assaultive conduct. No court would find your statements covered by that statute. They'd see them as testament of your culpability and involvement in the kidnapping and assault of the minor in question."</p>
<p>"Destroy the tape." Berkeley stabbed the point of the knife at Robin's throat. "Otherwise, we're going to find out how long it takes this little birdie to bleed to death."</p>
<p>"Let me go, now, or I will stick that knife in your thigh, in your neck, in your gut." Cold fury throbbed in his voice. "And I will stand over you and watch as you bleed to death."</p>
<p>"You won't kill me, little Robin." Berkeley's hand trembled on the handle of the knife. "My daughter won't let you kill me." He looked wildly between the four of them. "She wants me alive so they can lock me in a prison cell for the rest of my life."</p>
<p>"What you've always failed to realize," Raya's voice was calm as a midsummer's rain, "is that at no point in time do I have to <em>choose</em> to save you."</p>
<p>Berkeley howled with rage but the batarang Batman tossed clipped him in the back of the neck before he could slash out with the knife. He dropped to the floor without making a sound, the knife sliding from his grasp, and bouncing against the toe of Robin's boot. Robin stared at it with a mixture of revulsion and hatred until he heard Batman calling out to Kean.</p>
<p>"Just get my father into restraints." Kean cut the rest of the ropes keeping Robin's hands behind him. "Please."</p>
<p>Batman gave a slight nod before he turned to stalk towards the dazed and mumbling madman. Robin bent and picked up the knife that rest by his boot. His training as an assassin urged him to use the blade to kill the man who dared to lay a hand on him.</p>
<p>On Kean.</p>
<p>Her mother.</p>
<p><em>It'd be justice</em>, he reasoned as he slowly looked over to where Batman was finishing zip-tying his wrists together. He made to stand but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He shot a fulminating glare over his shoulder at Kean.</p>
<p>Not that it impressed her.</p>
<p>"To kill him now would be dishonorable."</p>
<p>Same argument he received from Father, Pennyworth, Grayson, and Drake. One he didn't believe any more now than he had when they used it.</p>
<p>"It is rightful justice."</p>
<p>"Giving him death does not give us justice, Robin."</p>
<p>"He deserves death," he insisted stubbornly. "He murdered your mother."</p>
<p>"Killing him will not bring my mother back."</p>
<p>"He's a monster."</p>
<p>"Killing him would make <em>you</em> a monster." Kean dropped to one knee before before. "It'd taint your father's legacy and everything he tried to teach you."</p>
<p>Robin felt himself wavering at those words.</p>
<p>"It eliminates a killer."</p>
<p>"Robin." Kean framed his face with her hands. "Killing one killer does not change the number of killers." Shouts came from downstairs, saving him from having to think of a reply. "Uncle Jim is here." She rose to her feet. "Batman and Double R can handle this. Let's get you to the cave so Alfred can check you over for injuries."</p>
<p>Robin could only nod. He allowed her to lead him from the room, oddly comforted by the feel of her hand on his back, but not understanding why.</p>
<p>He decided he'd figure it out tomorrow.</p>
<p>He wasn't looking forward to it.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>